The world was a murky river Fia drifted through, sinking and surfacing, lost between currents of darkness and light.
Before she could even open her eyes, she knew two things with certainty:
She felt safe.
And she felt him.
Emiliano.
His scent clung to her like a second skin—warm leather, cedarwood, and the faint metallic trace of blood. It wove through the fabric of her mind, anchoring her even as everything else slipped away.
She tried to lift her head, to reach out, to open her mouth and call for him—
Nothing.
Her body refused. Her arms and legs were dead weight, sinking her deeper into the leather seat she was sprawled across. Even her eyelids felt sealed shut, heavy as stone.
From the edge of awareness, voices trickled in—blurred and broken, like half-heard dreams.
“…close to moonrise…”
“…not much time left…”
“…she’s stronger, but the shift—”
Shift?
Moonrise?
A jolt rocked the car, sending a ripple through her paralyzed body. She caught the scent of gasoline and hot metal, the rubber tang of tires eating up the road. Her hair, heavy with sweat and lingering traces of Viktor’s cologne, slid across her forehead, tickling her nose.
And then—his touch.
A hand, rough and trembling, brushed her hair tenderly back from her face. His knuckles ghosted along her temple, a feather-light caress. She would have wept if she could have.
“Fia…” Emiliano’s voice cracked low against the noise of the speeding vehicle.
“I’m so sorry, piccola… so sorry.”
His thumb traced the edge of her cheekbone, careful, reverent. She could feel the self-hatred radiating off him, as sharp and bitter as the blood she could smell on his skin.
“I should’ve found you sooner.” His words were a rasp, raw with guilt. “I should’ve protected you better. You’re my mate, la mia vita, and I—"
His breath caught, a ragged sound.
"I love you."
A tear, not her own, splashed against her skin.
Fia's heart screamed inside her hollow chest. She wanted to answer him, to tell him that she knew. That she had felt his love threading through her even in the dark, even when her body had been drugged and helpless.
But when she tried to move—tried to force even a single word from her lips—
Agony exploded behind her eyes.
Her body rebelled, sending needles of white-hot pain across every nerve.
Stop, something primal inside her whispered. Rest. Heal. You are safe now.
Reluctantly, Fia surrendered to it, allowing her body to drift again. Maybe if she slept a little longer, she could gather enough strength to wake—to reach him—to tell him she wasn’t broken beyond repair.
Even as she sank deeper, she clung to the last sounds around her.
Cristiano’s voice cut low through the rattling of the car, tinged with something dangerous.
“She’s caught between stages, Emi. Viktor didn’t just drug her... he bit her. He’s her sire now.”
The words hit Emiliano like a blow to the chest.
The car’s engine howled as Luca floored it down the open highway, but all Emiliano could hear was the blood pounding in his ears.
Bitten. Sired. Bound.
Beside him, Fia lay motionless, her body trembling with the stirrings of something ancient and wild under her skin. His heart seized.
Cristiano continued, voice grim.
“That’s why Mia’s unconscious too. I had no choice but to intervene.” His hand raked through his hair. “She’s my blood mate, Emi. I couldn’t leave her in Viktor’s hands.”
Emiliano’s jaw locked so tight it hurt. Close to the rising moon, every nerve in his body was already stretched thin, vibrating with restless energy. His beast—his other half—rattled against its cage, clawing to be freed, demanding to protect what was his.
When Cristiano dared another glance over his shoulder, Emiliano exploded.
“I know what it means!” he roared, the car shaking with the force of it. “And I’ll kill him. I have to kill him to break the bond!”
The words echoed inside the car like gunfire.
Emiliano’s claws itched to tear free. His wolf snarled and twisted inside him, thrashing against the restraints of human flesh. But he couldn’t afford to shift now—not with Fia so fragile, not when he could hurt her.
Still, the need to rip Viktor apart limb from limb was a nearly blinding ache behind his ribs.
He turned, fists clenching so hard his nails cut into his palms. Fia’s face remained deathly still, her breaths shallow.
Why wasn’t she waking up?
“She’s a wolf now, Cristiano,” Emiliano ground out, panic creeping into his voice. “She should have burned off whatever drugs he used. She should be healing.”
Cristiano didn’t answer immediately. His silence was louder than any reply.
Finally, he muttered, “I can’t tell you what he used, Emi. Without knowing the poison, I can’t predict how her body will react.” His jaw tightened. “And Viktor sure as hell isn’t about to volunteer the information.”
A thousand dark possibilities assaulted Emiliano’s mind.
Had Viktor tainted her blood permanently?
Had he done something to bind her to him even beyond the sire bond?
Would she wake up and look at Emiliano the way she should—but instead, crave Viktor?
The thought was enough to drain every drop of blood from his body.
A thousand ugly, unbearable scenarios raced through his mind.
His wolf roared inside him, feral and furious:
She’s ours. She’ll never leave. She can’t leave.
He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think straight. The scent of Fia—sweet and raw and trembling with change—poured into his senses like a drug he couldn’t resist. It was agony not to scoop her into his arms and run far, far away from every threat.
Cristiano’s sharp voice snapped him out of the spiral.
“Emiliano!”
Emiliano blinked, chest heaving.
“Listen to me,” Cristiano said firmly. “We deal with Viktor after. After the sun rises. After the moon passes. Right now—”
He pointed sharply.
“Right now, we’ve got a bigger problem. If we don’t get secured, we’re going to lose control.”
The wordless threat hung heavy between them.
Because once the full moon rose in force, even the strongest minds snapped under its pull. Even the most disciplined wolves lost themselves to bloodlust and instinct.
Just then, the car jerked to a halt, tires crunching on the gravel drive of the manor.
Luca didn’t waste a second, throwing open his door and racing around to the passenger side.
Emiliano shoved open his door and surged forward, scooping Fia into his arms with a gentleness that made his muscles tremble. She was light—too light. Her body so much leaner, stronger than before, but still too still.
His mate.
His Fia.
His whole damned world.
He held her close to his chest, feeling every beat of her fragile heart echo against his ribs. She stirred faintly, her forehead pressing weakly into his collarbone, but she didn’t wake.
Cristiano, with Mia cradled against him like a lifeline, barked, “Move! We don’t have much time!”
Together they hurried into the looming stone manor, the old iron gates already swinging closed behind them, shutting out the world.
The cellar doors yawned open like a mouth waiting to swallow them whole.
The chains were already laid out, thick and cruel, smelling of old magic and blood. They had prepared for this night—but no one had prepared for the added weight of two unconscious mates in the mix.
Emiliano knew he was in for a long and torturous night; he just hoped both Fia and Mia stayed unconscious through the night...